Sentencing news of note

There are interesting sentencing stories across a range of topics this morning. On the death penalty front, Adam Liptak of the NY Times has this article on the new legal and policy debate over the humanity of the standard lethal injection chemicals.

Regarding the Angelos mandatory minimum case, previously recently discussed here and here, there is news coverage of note from various Utah media outlets here and here and here.

And, for your morning Blakely fix, here’s an article from Maine about a Blakely-reduced federal sentence in an OxyContin case, and another article from Maine about a Blakely-reduced federal sentence in a child pornography case.

UPDATE: A few thoughtful readers sent along some additional noteworthy recent newspaper pieces. This editorial effectively discusses the politics and realities of Georgia state sentencing to argue that “Georgia needs to leaven its justice with a little wisdom and mercy.” And there is a piece in today’s New York Law Journal (only available on-line here with a subscription) which suggests that opposition to New York’s notoriously draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws helped win a primary for District Attorney in Albany.